In the End
by Helen C
Summary: Life in Newport gets more interesting with each year that goes by. A followup to In the Beginning.


**Title** : In The End (also known as, "The Sequel to the Scary Old Lady fic")

**Author** : Helen C.

**Rating** : PG

**Summary** : Life in Newport gets more interesting with each year that goes by.

**Disclaimer** : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**A/N** : A little follow-up to In the Beginning. Written for shakespearebint, who wanted Ryan to be a part of Mrs. Thyls' will. I hope you'll like it.

**A/N2** : A glimpse of S/R (blink and you'll miss it.)

**A/N3** : This is not meant to be taken seriously. Seriously…

**A/N4** : As usual, huge thanks to the awesome joey51 for betaing this.

* * *

**_In the End_**

Helen C.

"Dude," Seth said.

Ryan supposed that was all there was to say, but he still couldn't help being surprised when Seth didn't add anything.

"She actually left you everything."

Right. Ryan should have known that Seth _always_ had something to add.

"Wow."

Ryan was still reeling from his meeting with Mrs. Thyls' lawyer, still struck speechless by the fact that he was now indecently rich, still unable to string together the words to form even one sentence.

Of course, Mrs. Thyls had always liked people who could keep it shut.

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"You inherited everything the Scary Old Lady owned," Seth said, later that night.

Ryan still hadn't said much. Sadness had replaced mind-numbing surprise, but Ryan didn't think Seth would understand. Sandy seemed to, though, if the way he kept patting Ryan's shoulder or squeezing his arm comfortingly was any indication.

Seth had never seen the old, lonely woman behind the tough exterior—to him, Mrs. Thyls had always remained a bogeyman, which was the way she had wanted it.

"But then, she must have liked you," Seth said, looking puzzled.

Ryan shrugged.

The woman had left him her house, and about thirty million dollars. It would have been futile to deny that she must have liked him.

"How come that woman—?"

"Her name was Mrs. Thyls," Sandy threw in. "A little respect, son."

He looked tired and Ryan remembered that he, too, had enjoyed the woman's company. She had reminded him of the Nana, Sandy had once said. And yeah, sure, there had been a resemblance between the two women.

"Sorry," Seth mumbled. "But really, Ryan—"

Ryan counted to ten and prayed for patience.

He was going to need it tonight.

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"You're richer than Luke. You're richer than most people in this town," Seth said.

As if that hadn't occurred to Ryan before.

He should have been elated but he was just petrified.

He didn't need luxury, didn't even want it. Knowing that there was food in the fridge and a warm bed to sleep into was more than enough for him.

What the fuck was he going to do with all that money?

He had briefly thought about using it to pay for college, but the Cohens had shot him down, saying that they had set up a saving account for him and he didn't need to use Mrs. Thyls' money just yet.

_When, then?_ Ryan wondered.

What was he going to buy with all that money?

Clothes?

Sport cars?

His way to the presidency of the United States?

Fuck.

He was screwed.

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"Dude, you're like the richest young man in town," Seth said, because he had never been scared to repeat himself ad nauseum. "Do you think Julie Cooper is going to make a move on you, now that Summer's dad has dumped her sorry ass?"

Ryan threw a pillow at him, kicked him out of the pool house, then went to take a shower.

Gah.

He was so going to need to kick Seth's ass later for putting that disturbing idea in his mind.

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"Ryan! You look handsome tonight! Have you cut your hair?" Julie asked, smiling sweetly at him.

Ryan shivered, looked around, didn't see anyone who could possibly save him and sighed.

Looked like he was gonna need to help himself, as usual.

"I need to see Marissa," he said quickly.

"She's not here."

"I need to go look for her then."

"She's in Hawaii with Jimmy, as you very well know."

Damn the woman, anyway.

And what the fuck did she think she was doing with that hand?

Damn it all to hell.

He needed another shower.

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"So, how is wealthiness treating you?" Luke asked, sprawled on the sofa of the room he was sharing with Ryan in Berkeley.

"Wealthiness?" Ryan repeated, already disgusted.

"He just doesn't know how to spend money," Seth said. "He's hopeless."

Luke snickered, Seth complained about Ryan's refusal to buy everything Marvel had ever published, and Ryan wondered what Julie was up to. She had stopped hassling him since Sandy had managed to get that restraining order, but Ryan had the sick feeling that he hadn't seen the last of her.

Julie Cooper wasn't the kind of woman who could be stopped by such trivialities as the distance between Berkely and Newport, or a court order.

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Kirsten, who had been remarkably discreet on the whole matter, eventually asked Ryan how he felt about everything. It was shortly after he had graduated, and he was busy wondering what he was going to do with himself now that he was done with school.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she said, sitting next to him on the patio. "I know you liked her."

She didn't understand why, that much was clear, but then Ryan had never understood why she loved Caleb so much, and that hadn't stopped him from feeling bad for her when the old bastard had kicked the bucket.

"Thanks," he said. He shook his head slowly. He still hadn't touched what Mrs. Thyls had left him—he had allowed the Cohens to pay for college and he had worked on the side to get some more money. He had gotten his first job thanks to a friend of Arturo when he was fourteen and he didn't think he could ever _stop_ working.

He didn't need that money, didn't really want it, and damn her, Mrs. Thyls had to have known that.

Recently, Ryan had been giving a lot of thought to that money—which was currently sleeping in a closed account.

He had also started thinking about everything the Cohens had done, and were still doing, for him; everything Mrs. Thyls had done, in her own acerbic, no-nonsense way.

He had spent a lot of time wondering how he could pay them back.

He had been thinking about all the kids who never got the chance he did, and who were maybe waiting for someone to reach out to them.

"About that money…" he started, hesitantly. He knew that Kirsten would be understanding, and Sandy would be proud, and Seth would complain about Ryan's pathological need to save everyone, and the certainty that he had a family here, that he was loved, made his breath catch in his throat.

Kirsten was smiling at him already, reaching over to take his hand.

He started talking again. "I've been thinking…"

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The shelter that Ryan designed and built, using Mrs. Thyls' money, was a success.

Sandy spent most of his time there, offering fatherly advice and legal counsel.

Kirsten organized and hosted a few fundraisers a year, to help the shelter get what it needed.

Seth donated his comic collection for the kids living there.

Summer came by, from time to time, and was often found snarking some sense into hot headed teenagers.

Julie Cooper learned that Ryan had spent most of the money he had and she moved on to greener pastures—Hawaii, back to Jimmy, who was still broke and still loved her. Marissa, who lived near them with her husband, Johnny, said they were almost back to normal—whatever the hell that meant.

Of course, _normal_ was a very relative notion in Newport, Ryan mused as he half-listened to Seth's rant—something about the decay of the graphic novel genre.

And soon enough, Seth was going to realize that Ryan's wasn't listening, and was going to tell him that he needed to make up for it, and they would go to the bedroom, or maybe there wouldn't be time enough for that and they'd settle for the couch and then…

Yeah, Ryan thought, smiling, things in Newport were strange, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

end


End file.
